Ulimo Citadel. After several days of pacification and sweeping, the Larkinsons managed to tame the previously-wild pirate fortification.

Ves along with his students and his assistant mech designers stepped into the empty and damaged public marketplace section of the base.

The entire place had lost all of its liveliness. The previous catastrophe wiped out the vast majority of civilian Nyxians. The grey ghosts the anomaly spawned ruthlessly hunted every form of life without caring whether they were Larkinsons, pirates or innocent bystanders.

Speaking of the assistant mech designers, Ves had treated them rather unfairly in the Battle of Ulimo Citadel. When the artificial anomaly came into being, Ves eventually decided to go inside to rescue some of his trapped mech pilots.

He overlooked the fact that his Braves resided on the Scarlet Rose as well.

Entering the abyss and witnessing the hard struggle against the ghost mechs and abomination mechs frightened all of them. Witnessing the giant avatar of the Unending One barreling down on the Scarlet Rose in order to swallow the ship whole was far more terrifying than being subjected to the Doom Guard's glow!

Fortunately, the trauma they endured had lessened because of the rise of Jannzi Larkinson. The clan's first expert pilot not only blocked the tentacled whale's offensive, but also beat the horrifying creature with a magnificent and inspiring energy projection of Qilanxo!

The impact of the latter was extremely crucial in restoring everyone's hope. The Battle of Ulimo Citadel revealed that there were monsters in the Nyxian Gap. Yet no matter how formidable they appeared, these evil creatures would never be able to topple Task Force Predator as long as Venerable Jannzi was their shield!

None of his Braves broke down in the end. Many of them possessed a high tolerance for stress to begin with, and the remainder tried their best to pretend they were fine if only because they didn't let Ves down.

"It's so cruel." Maikel spoke with a hollow voice. "I know they're all pirates, but.. these folk didn't do too many awful things in their lives. They were just born in the wrong place at the wrong place."

"They are pirates. They are our enemies." Catherine Evenson spoke. As a former noble from the Sentinel Kingdom, she was never soft when it came to the pirates of the Nyxian Gap. "It's all well and good to feel pity on the ordinary people who live in places like these, but everything they do facilitates the activities of pirates. Without their existence, it would have been a lot harder for pirates to repair their sh.i.p.s, build new mechs, feed their people and process their ill-gotten gains."

"That doesn't mean they are guilty!"

The squabble erupting from his assistants heated up. Everyone had a different view on the guilt of the non-pirate natives of the Nyxian Gap. Some took a harder line and wanted to give them the same treatment as actual pirates. Others sympathized with these 'innocents' and wanted to let them off. Most remained indecisive.

"What do you think, teacher?" Zanthar asked.

The assistants all fell silent as they became curious at what Ves had to say about this issue. How would he solve this dilemma?

Ves turned around and smiled at them. He looked particularly dashing today due to the cape he wore over his patriarch uniform.

"Before I give you my answer, let me remind you who we are. We are the Larkinson Clan. We are the offshoot and continuation of an honorable military family. Though we have decided to chart our own course, we still hold true to many of our original values. As an upright organization, we must act according to the prevailing laws."

Rina Orion raised her hand. "Sir, this is the Nyxian Gap. There aren't any laws. Didn't we steal a lot of pirate superweapons and used them against their former owners in the previous battle? Clearly the rules don't apply here!"

"Not quite so." Ves shook his head. "The Big Two's mandate doesn't merely extend to all of the territories that fall under civilized space. It also governs our behavior outside of it. If our clan randomly employed nuclear missiles and warship-grade laser cannons in the Nyxian Gap, the MTA would have arrested us as soon as we returned to civilized space. I had to obtain a special exemption to allow our clan to use those taboo weapons without repercussions."

That sounded rather unfair, but the Big Two didn't really care about that. They just wanted to minimize the use and proliferation of these weapons as much as possible.

"It is in our clan's best interests to remain on the good side of the Big Two. We don't want to become outlaws and separate ourselves from human society. Trying to remain aloof from human states doesn't mean we intend to reject our humanity."

Every assistant nodded.

"Aside from that, our behavior should match our ideals. Even if the Big Two's laws aren't hanging over our head, we should still treat the average residents of the Nyxian Gap with dignity. We aren't killers. We aren't pirates. More importantly, we aren't responsible for enforcing law and order inside and outside the Nyxian Gap. Even if these residents go on to join a pirate gang or something, that's not under our purview. All these what ifs and future threats are immaterial to us. We should just act according to our prevailing policies and principles."

The Braves all looked thoughtful at his answer. It partially sounded like a copout, but Ves didn't care. He just wanted to prevent the Larkinson Clan from degenerating into immorality.

After all, what sounded better, leading a clan of cruel and bloodthirsty butchers or leading a clan of noble and honorable warriors?

As Ves observed the Larkinson mechs and infantry soldiers standing guard and searching through the structures, he nodded in satisfaction.

He was pleased with the professionalism displayed by his troops. The Larkinson Clan may consist of many outsiders who came from many different states, but the Larkinsons had successfully molded them into disciplined soldiers.

Even if discipline in the ranks wasn't as strict as in the Mech Corps, they didn't slack off or abused their privileges.

As the tour continued, they entered a large holding facility where the Larkinsons stowed away a lot of average residents, at least what was left of them. According to latest estimates, the ritual devoured at least eighty percent of the total population of Ulimo Citadel.

That was a lot of people!

The few who clung to their lives had reason to escape the calamity that befell the rest.

A portion of them were lucky enough to enjoy the protection of the authorities when the darkness spewed out ghosts.

Some were relatives of the Dry Snakes or other important pirate outfits.

Others managed to fend off the ghosts on their own with their personal weapons.

Regardless, the Larkinsons preliminarily deemed these captives to be fairly free of guilt.

As Ves and his group of Braves approached the block of holding cells, the barriers turned transparent, allowing both sides to get a good look at each other.

Some Nyxian residents looked hollow. Others had curled up and cried. A few went berserk and banged against the energy screen that kept them captive.

"YOU FILTHY CIVILIZED FOLK! YOU KILLED MY JOHNNY!"

"Why did you Larkinsons attack our home?! We never did anything wrong! Now look what you've done! Our lives are ruined!"

"You there! You with the cape! Are you the big boss? Come over here so I can kick you between the legs! You deserve it for wiping out all of my comrades!"

The jeers, threats and insults impacted the Braves quite a bit. For all of their courage, they were still too young and tender to endure public indignation at such a close and personal level.

Ves remained impassive as he observed both the captives and his assistants.

Many of the latter weren't taking the insults well. Only a small number of socially-adept people such as Catherine Evenson managed to brush off the death threats and other pejorative remarks.

The rest didn't really know how to deal with this situation. Should these prisoners be killed? Should they be punished? Or were these captives all justified in voicing out the cruel and destructive consequences of the Larkinson Clan's decision to attack Ulimo?

"Why do you look confused?" Ves asked his assistants. "There is no reason for you to feel sorry for these people. We have our reasons for conquering Ulimo Citadel. This won't be the last time we take offensive action. As is the case in every battle that takes place where people live, collateral damage is inevitable. This time, the pirates are the primary culprits responsible for killing off their own people. These unfortunate people are blaming the wrong side."

"Aren't we at least partially responsible, sir?" Moltar Ringer asked. "I mean, it is true that these people wouldn't have lost their friends and family if our task force chose to bypass Ulimo Citadel."

Ves shook his head. "Ulimo Citadel is a critically important pirate base. It not only facilitates the running of a lot of smaller pirate outfits, but also sells crucial exotics to an even greater and more threatening pirate alliance. Taking it out of commission, if at least temporarily, is a great service to the Sentinel Kingdom and other states that suffer from frequent pirate raids."

"Are we supposed to endure their insults, then? They are saying really awful stuff."

"Of course not." Ves grinned. "While we should do our best to act in an honorable fashion, that doesn't mean we are white knights. If these sc.u.m are stupid enough to provoke us, then feel free to give them the punishment they deserve."

He pulled out a laser pistol from his holster and fired at the nearest Nyxian resident who was hurling insults in his direction.

"I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN TO THE ENDS OF THE GALAXY! I WILL REPAY YOU A THOUSAND TIMES OVER FOR KILLING MY SONS! I WON'T REST UNTIL—"

A bright laser beam passed through the energy screen and blasted the woman's head apart.

Many other captives stopped yelling at the Larkinsons. They all backed off and shook in fear as their boldness had left them. None of them thought that their captors would kill one of their own on the spot!

The Braves all looked astonished at this turn of events. Seeing Ves kill someone without hesitation did not conform with the image of a talented and capable Journeyman Mech Designer! 

"This is the true nature of Nyxian people." Ves stated to his Braves. "Don't pity them. Certainly, many of them had not been dealt a fair hand in life, but that is no reason for our Larkinson Clan to be soft on them. As Larkinsons, we should first look to ourselves. In the future, all of us will definitely encounter more situations where furthering the interests of our clan means harming the interests of other people. Make the right choice."

He wasn't just speaking to his Braves. What he said would doubtlessly spread to the rest of the rest of the Larkinson Clan. As a newly-founded organization, much of its customs were still in flux. The influence of leaders such as Ves on the overall culture of the clan was very significant.

This was why Ves purposefully held this demonstration. He wanted to instill some honorable but also practical norms onto his clansmen through vivid acts like these.

Compared to writing a dry and boring essay and forcing every Larkinson to read it, Ves believed it was much better to go out and ill.u.s.trate his point in a more direct fashion.

Though he felt like a greasy politician for doing so, there was a reason that many of them eagerly employed this method. Theatrics worked! As Ves had already witnessed many times during his mech design presentations, people were much more driven by their emotions than their logic.

As long as Ves mastered the art of tugging the strings of their emotions, he could do whatever he wanted!